Seafood to Avoid: Pilot Whale

Short-finned pilot whale is on the lunch menu at some rural Japanese kindergartens. Now tests conducted on the whale meat show that it contains alarmingly high levels of accumulated methylmercury, a neurotoxin that nursing mothers and young children in particular are strongly advised to avoid. With demand for whale meat already running low in Japan, concerns over mercury contamination could further weaken the country's resolve to bolster its whaling tradition. At the very least, it would seem to call into question programs within Japan to encourage more kids to eat whale.